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*UNITED @TAVIe IFFIQE.

IVM. HARVEY, OF ALBANY, NEIV YORK.

JOINT FOR T-RAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 21,957, dated November 2, 1858.

To aZZ whom it may Concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HARVEY, of A lbany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and Iinproved Joint for T-Rails; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making' a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side View of the ends of two rails with the oint chair and other contrivances for forming the joint. F ig. 2 is a horizontal section of the sanne, taken just below the heads of the rails. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, taken in the plane indicated by the line x, m, in Fig. 2. Fig'. 4L is a transverse vertical section, taken in the plane indicated by the line y, y, in Fig'. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

To enable others to make and use iny invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, A, are t-he rails; B, is the chair; C, D, are the side plates which inay be of cast iron, and are of the length of the chair, which may be ot the usual length. The plate C, which is applied on the outer side of the joint is intended to stand up flush with the face of the rail in order that it may form an unbroken bearing for the wheels as they pass the square extremities a, a, of the rails A, A. This plate inay be of such form as to till up the recess in t-he side of the rail between the head and base or only to bear against the head and upon the base, leaving an open space between it and the neck of the rail. The last-mentioned forni is the one shown in the drawing. In either case the lower part of said plate rests partly upon the base of the rails and partly upon the outside lip of the chair as shown in Fig. l. The plate D, which is applied on the inner side of the joint must iit into the recess in the side of the rail, as its upper part cannot project laterally beyond the head of the rail, or it would interfere with the flanges of the wheels; and its lower part, like the lower part of plate C, rests partly upon the bases ot the rails and partly upon the inside lip Z2, of the chair as shown in Fig'. 4. This plate has projecting from its inner side two strong horizontal tongues c, c, which pass through two slots (Z, CZ, cut one in each rail,

and through two slots e, c, provided in the plate C, and these tongues rest upon proj ections which are provided on the chair to stand up outside of the plate C, in the man ner shown at i, in Figs. 3 and et, said projections serving to support and prevent the breaking of the tongues c, c, by a heavy blow, and serving also in part to conne the plate C. The tongues c, c, are furnished with vertical slots y', y', to receive keys la, 7c, which are driven through thein and through corresponding vertical slots f, f, in the chair. These keys Ze, 7c, may also constitute spikes and be driven right through the chair into the tie E, as shown in Fig. 4L. The plate D is also made with a vertical slot g, g, to receive a spike ZL, (see Figs. 2 and 4) which is driven through it and the chair into the tie E. The chair B, is made with its lips ZJ, Z2, of ust the height of the anges of the base of the rail in order that the plates C, D, inay rest on both, but in this respect it does not diifer from inany chairs in use.

The rail and chair are secured to the joint tie by spikes Z, Z, passing through the chairs and through notches in the edges of the flanges of the base of the rail in the usual manner, and the heads of these spikes are covered by the plates C, D, in which recesses r, r, are provided for thein in such a inanner as to prevent the possibility of the said spikes being withdrawn while the said plates are in place.

s, s, are projections on the lips b, ZQ, to cover the ends of the recesses r, r.

The plates C, D, constructed and applied and tongued together by tongues passing through the rails and secured by the keys 7c, le, as described, clamp and lock the rails together both vertically and laterally in the firmest possible manner so that neither can inove without the other, and this method ot clamping being used in connection with a plate which stands up flush with the tread of the rail on the outer side of the joint makes a track which inay be considered to be perfectly continuous.

Instead of the two tongues o, c, on the plate D, and two slots CZ, CZ, in the rail and e, e, in the plate C, one tongue may be used so applied as to pass through a slot made halt1 in the extremity ot each rail and a single slot in the plate C, which will serve the same purpose as the two tongues and slots though in a less perfect inanner.

The keys 7a, Za, may be secured by driving yas, I am aware that numerous different modes of applying,l suoli plates have been proposed.

Neither do I claim, generally, the use of side clamping plates. But

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

"Ilie arrangement and combination of the laterally-tongued side plate D, with the rails A, chair B, and side piece C, as and for the purposes herein shown and described.

WM. HARVEY.

Wfitnesses:

Y `HENRY T. BROWN,

W. I-IAurr. 

